TUESDAY, March 19, 2013 (Kaiser Health News)  When visiting the doctor, there may be strength in numbers.

In recent years, a growing number of doctors have begun holding group appointments  seeing up to a dozen patients with similar medical concerns all at once. Advocates of the approach say such visits allow doctors to treat more patients, spend more time with them (even if not one-on-one), increase appointment availability and improve health outcomes.

Some see group appointments as a way to ease looming physician shortages. According to a study published in December, meeting the country's health-care needs will require nearly 52,000 additional primary-care physicians by 2025. More than 8,000 of that total will be needed for the more than 27 million people newly insured under the Affordable Care Act.

I love the way this "reporter" tries to spin another disastrous result of Obamacare as a positive! Oh yay, no more private physician visits! I get to have group appts! And my co-pay doesn't even go up!

Obama said that he believed that reducing doctor’s pay would cause them to be more “productive”. He was speaking the truth (oddly enough); too bad few people realized what doctor “productivity” means for patients.

Some mental health practitioners already do this. It’s called group therapy.

Re HIPAA, IMO this is another ridiculous set of govt regs which should also be abolished and certainly should have been seen as a precursor to Obamacare.

In spite of this, I can envision, for instance, the 2nd Tuesday of every month being mammogram day for those living within a certain ZIP code. All the ladies line up, bare breasted and someone in a TSA uniform at the front of the line yells next, puts each boob in the slammer, hits a button and it’s done. Or air travelers being informed that their full body scan will be sent off to the nearest lab for analysis and determination of any possible medical condition.

18
posted on 03/19/2013 4:30:46 PM PDT
by Grams A
(The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)

For example, in a diabetes group visit, a doctor might ask everyone to remove their shoes so he can examine their feet for sores or signs of infection, among other things. A typical session lasts up to two hours. In addition to answering questions and examining patients, the doctor often leads a discussion, often assisted by a nurse.

This can easily spiral into nightmare territory. Anyone else remember that old television commercial "Sometimes you get an itch so private you can only talk to your doctor about it"?

19
posted on 03/19/2013 4:33:44 PM PDT
by LostInBayport
(When there are more people riding in the cart than there are pulling it, the cart stops moving...)

As long as they’re treating a group with “similar symptoms”; why bother actually diagnosing each one individually? Simply pick one patient at random, diagnose him or her & make multiple copies of the prescription form. That would be much more efficient. Think of the savings!

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